doc wrote:bladeracer wrote:But I do not agree that criminals are specifically targeting firearms to any great degree.
The average crim is wanting jewelry, cash, and other things to move to feed their drug habit, so if you're talking the average crim - I could agree with you in part.
However -
I think you've missed the bigger picture. Criminals are opportunistic.
Most crims aren't going into houses looking for bars of gold either. However if a list of names and addresses of houses that were storing bars of gold were released - I could imagine that crims that would never otherwise target those houses would start to - because they now have information available to them.
And here lies the problems. Firearms are no different. Crims who have had the intel have targetted firearm owners houses in the past. As has already been mentioned - dealer registration books have been stolen. Why? Those books have no value - except for criminals who want information on where differnet types of firearms are located.
Tracking someone from a club is a long process - you may be noticed on the drive home. Numerous lights that you'd have to get right, if the car merges into another lane just before an exit that you miss, etc. There's a lot that could go wrong meaning that numerous attempts might need to be made before you found a single house. Worth the effort? For most no, but maybe for a couple yes.
However - given a shopping list with a few thousands names and addresses in it - and it simplifies the process and more importantly opens up a lot more opportunities. And criminals being opportunists - it completely changes the ball game.
I specifically stated that criminals steal firearms if they find them rather than targeting them specifically - how does that "miss the big picture"? Even when they find a gun safe it's rare that they ever bother trying to open it. They know that they can make some money if they can get those firearms out, but the incentive is just not there for the vast majority of thieves to bother wasting any time on it.
I'm not denying that firearms get stolen. But the number of firearms that get stolen is so small, compared to other items that get stolen, as to be virtually negligible.
One of GCA's biggest claims has always been that we legal firearms owners are indirectly arming criminals by not securing our firearms against theft. The almost zero usage of stolen legally-owned firearms being recovered from crimes by Police proves that GCA are lying, and as shooters we need to ensure that this is made clear all the time in the eyes of the public. Not only because it is untrue, but because it undermines the credibility of GCA, which is far more important.
Shooters that push GCA's views are not helping gun owners at all and are undermining our own efforts to combat the ridiculous onuses forced upon us.
I have not seen any evidence _at all_ anywhere to support the view that criminals specifically target gun owners generally to any great degree. I agree that a _very_ small number of instances do occur where specific types of firearms are deliberately targeted by criminals - principally modern handguns, and Cat C/D class firearms, which are a very small percentage of Australian gun owners.
Queensland released figures recently of firearm theft but I can't find it just now - the number is tiny by any measure, except that of GCA who consider even a single stolen firearm sufficient to warrant placing greater restrictions on every Australian gun owner.
Here's one link indicating "more than 6000 firearms stolen across Australia in a two-year period." Many from rural areas, meaning I'm already "targeted" by thieves wanting Cat A/B firearms without requiring any list of my details.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/more-than-6000-firearms-stolen-across-australia-in-a-twoyear-period-new-figures-show-20161129-gt08fv.html3000 per annum out of how many millions of firearms?
And how many of them are recovered from _criminal_ activity?
If they are not being used in criminal activity, then the only victim is the gun owner, and perhaps his insurance company. It has zero significance to society in general, and nothing at all to do with restricting legal ownership of firearms.
Or this one:
http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/tandi_pdf/tandi230.pdf"A total of
25,171 firearms were reported stolen to police in Australia between
1994 and 2000. This equates to an average of about
12 firearms reported
stolen per day. The majority of firearms reported stolen are
rifles (51%),
followed by
shotguns (21%) and
handguns (14%). Most firearms are reported
stolen from a residential premise (81%). Currently there are over two million
registered firearms in Australia and, annually, less than one per cent are
reported stolen to police. This means that, on average, over 4,000 legal
firearms are stolen annually in Australia and, most importantly, there is the
possibility that at least some of these are being transferred into the illegitimate
firearms market."
That's 4195 firearms stolen per annum "or less than one per cent", yes that is a hell of a lot less than one per cent of the then current two-million firearms.
That's 2139 rifles (how many of those are air rifles and .22's?), 881 shotguns (I'm sure the vast majority being break-action singles and doubles), and 587 handguns (how many air-pistols, .22's and single-action revolvers I wonder?). The remaining 14% must be things that are classed as firearms but are not, like replicas, de-act's, antiques, toys and the like.
How many of those firearms do you believe were deliberately targeted?
Stop legitimising GCA's stance by propagating their bulls**t agenda.
EDIT: my poor maths - I'm assuming that '94-'00 is only six financial years, not seven actual years.
Another link, done by our side:
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Legal_and_Constitutional_Affairs/Illicit_firearms/~/media/Committees/legcon_ctte/Illicit_firearms/d01.pdf